Nico Rosberg acknowledged he had been “on the edge” as he claimed his fifth successive pole position on Saturday in qualifying for Sunday’s Brazilian Grand Prix.
Rosberg, who won the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago to boost his hopes of finishing as runner-up in the championship, clocked a fastest lap in one minute, 11.282 seconds in the final moments of the session to beat Mercedes-GP teammate Lewis Hamilton by 0.078 seconds.
It was the 21st pole of Rosberg’s career, the most by any driver not to have won the world title, and yet another front-row lockout for the Mercedes team, their 14th of the season.
“The last lap was a bit on the edge, with a couple of big moments in there, but pole is a good place to start,” he said.
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Hamilton already has secured his third drivers’ title, having done so in the United States last month with three races to spare.
He is anxious to return to winning ways after being beaten by his teammate in Mexico, and he was satisfied with his efforts.
“It was good today,” the Briton said. “I got a good balance. At the end I didn’t maximise the first sector but the other two sectors were OK.”
Despite Interlagos being the venue when he won his first world title, in 2008, Hamilton has never won at the Sao Paulo circuit in seven previous attempts.
Second place in last year’s race, which was won by Rosberg, is as close as he has gone, and Hamilton hopes to go one better in Sunday’s 71-lap race.
“Last year, I was stronger in the race and I hope to carry that through and hopefully make the difference,” he said.
Sebastian Vettel, the four-time world champion, was third for Ferrari, and his teammate, Kimi Raikkonen, will start next to him in the second row.
Valtteri Bottas, the Williams driver, had qualified fourth, but was demoted to seventh due to a three-place grid penalty, which was given to him by the stewards for overtaking under red-flag conditions during practice on Friday.
Nico Hulkenberg’s Force India and the Red Bull of Daniil Kvyat move up to fifth and sixth due to the Bottas penalty, with the second Williams of Felipe Massa, the Toro Rosso of Max Verstappen and the Sauber of Felipe Nasr completing the top 10.
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